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The battle was at a stalemate, like an old bull stuck in a quagmire.
Even though Jiang Kui killed one Tatar expert after another, regardless of the cost, he still couldn’t disperse these frenzied enemies.
The bodyguards around him fell one by one.
Their advance slowed, became more difficult.
Behind them, the sounds of fierce fighting grew ever more tragic...
"Covered in frost, blades are drawn!"
Jiang Kui summoned the last of his strength to unleash several sword energies, three to four zhang long, forcibly breaking through the increasingly thick human wall in front of him.
This time, his sword finally could not withstand the strain and shattered into countless pieces amid the violent energy.
The Tatar soldiers, seeing that he was without a blade, their faces which a few breaths before still held traces of fear, now twisted into ferocity, and with eerie howls, they pounced on him together.
Jiang Kui used the hilt of his sword to block a curved blade aimed at him, grabbed a Tatar soldier in a clinch, slapped him on the chest, then smoothly took the curved blade from his hand and kicked the corpse away from his embrace.
"Kill kill kill..."
He howled like those Tatars, continuing the deadly combat as he moved forward.
But the Tatar’s curved blades, which usually felt as light as mugwort, now felt unbearably heavy in his hand.
What made him feel even more powerless was that after a brief moment of fluidity, they were once again mired in the quagmire.
And this time...
He no longer had the strength to break free from the mire.
He could only fight like an ordinary soldier, tirelessly swinging his blade to block the ubiquitous blades, spears, and arrows while cutting down every Tatar in his path.
The curved blade’s edge became notched, and heavier by the moment.
The thundering sounds of battle grew fainter.
The drumming of his heartbeat and the labored breathing like an old ox plowing the field grew louder.
Jiang Kui felt as if the daylight before his eyes had suddenly dimmed considerably.
He could barely discern the shifting figures in front of him.
He felt he might not survive this ordeal...
But at this very moment, he only felt peace.
An unprecedented peace.
It reminded him of those autumn days when he, along with his grandfather and grandmother, would hurriedly gather the grains drying on the terrace, too exhausted to do anything but lie on top of the grain chest and fall into a deep sleep, with the sounds of raindrops hitting the tile roof and the clanking of pots and pans as his grandparents cooked; the scent of rainwater saturating the hot terrace, and the fresh yet slightly harsh aroma of new grain...
"Crack."
In a daze, Jiang Kui was pierced in the chest by a long spear thrust from atop a tall horse.
His muddled consciousness immediately snapped to clarity.
He decisively abandoned the notched curved blade, seized the spear in his chest, and braced it to prevent the spear from penetrating further.
Remarkably, the rider possessed extraordinary arm strength and, using the momentum of the charging horse, lifted Jiang Kui from the ground.
He could only desperately swing his banner, furiously smashing it down on the Tatar cavalry’s face.
"Thud."
Jiang Kui fell heavily with the Tatar rider into the crowd.
He let go of his banner and with his other hand, he wrapped around the neck of a struggling Tatar foot soldier beneath him, dragging him up as a shield.
The other hand tried to pull out the spear lodged in his armor.
He exerted himself, yet the spearhead would not budge.
The daylight before his eyes grew darker as several Tatar foot soldiers with curved blades closed in.
"Ah..."
He exhaled a deep breath, slowly closing his eyes, and murmured softly, "Grandpa, Grandma, Da Kui is coming home..."
"Second Brother, don’t sleep!"
In the midst of chaos, Jiang Kui thought he heard a familiar voice.
He was startled for a couple of seconds, then hastily opened his eyes, and the light brightened again before him...
Struggling to lift his head, he saw a tattered dark red banner fluttering above him.
On the dark red banner, one could faintly make out the words, "Carrying out justice on behalf of Heaven."
"Brace yourself!"
The voice came from in front of him, "Brothers have come to back you up... Five Elements Revert to the Prime!"
As he focused his gaze, he saw a towering figure clad in glistening black bear fur standing before him, blocking the tidal waves of the Tatar army!
```
Not far away, one could still hear a violent roar like that of a tiger, "Brothers, charge with me... Tempest and torrential rain!"
Jiang Kui froze for a good dozen breaths before snapping back to reality, and by that time his rigid face had unknowingly been filled with smiles.
He shoved the lifeless body of the Tatar infantryman off himself, slowly stood up while grabbing his commander’s flag, then grasped the spear lodged in his chest and yanked it out.
The next second, his legs suddenly gave way...
Just as he was about to fall again, a figure shot out from behind and caught him.
He slowly turned his head and saw an elongated donkey face.
"What’s wrong?"
He looked at the face with a beaming smile and said softly, "Still hate your second brother?"
The face that had been planning to take a couple of stabs at him to blow off steam on the way here suddenly burst into tears at the call of "second brother."
After all, the hatred he felt towards Jiang Kui was simply because they, the three of them, why did they survive...
"To not seek to be born on the same day of the same month of the same year, but to die on the same day of the same month of the same year."
The youngest and the next youngest were both gone.
How could the remaining three live on ignominiously?
The fire on Lü Mountain burnt not only the dead...
But also those who were still alive...
"Don’t be angry!"
Jiang Kui gently patted his cheek, smiling with a face full of folds, "Second brother slaughtered many Tatar today, as burial sacrifices for the third and fourth brothers..."
"That’s not nearly enough!"
Stinky Face lifted a tear-streaked face and laughed hysterically, "To send all these hybrids down to serve as cattle and horses for third and fourth brothers would be more like it!"
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"If it’s not enough, we’ll keep slaughtering!"
Jiang Kui cocked his commander’s flag awkwardly, "There are so many Tatar on the prairie, we’ll never run out!"
"Hahaha!"
Stinky Face let go of him, snatched the flag from his hand, and rushed jovially toward the dark tide of Tatar men, "You’re getting old, no longer useful, from now on look to your youngest brother... Frost fills the sky!"
Jiang Kui hastily picked up the spear that had pierced his armor from the ground and stumbled forward, chasing after the two brothers who were wreaking havoc ahead, "Don’t leave me behind, don’t leave me behind..."
Following behind, the reinforcements from Lü Mountain, carrying the flag of justice, cleansed the mud off the Wei troops who were exhausted to their bones.
Finally, the old ox escaped the mire and furiously charged ahead!
Who knows how long it was.
The roaring of cannon fire suddenly drowned out the tumultuous battle cries.
The howling Tatar army finally fell silent.
Their forward momentum turned into a scatter of birds and beasts, fleeing across the mountains and plains.
The reorganized Wei army advanced under the cover of the cannons, harrying and killing the fleeing Tatar soldiers while rushing towards the tents at the rear of the Tatar army that seemed to connect heaven and earth.
This expanse of tents has a prestigious name on the prairie: Tatar!
That is the original meaning of the word "Tatar."
And the Tatar Tribe is currently the largest nomadic tribe on the prairies!
Another exhilarating and triumphant victory!
...
At the end of August, cries of "Great victory at the border!" once again resounded through Luting County.
And this time, it was no longer about how many heads were taken—the "little fights and skirmishes."
It was about the uplifting slogan, "The Wei’s imperial forces captured the prairie khan, toward the imperial court."
It was the greatest victory in an external campaign for the Wei Dynasty since the Jian Ning era.
It was also the battle that brought a sigh of relief to Wei’s army after the disastrous defeat at Songting Pass seven years into Xiping.
Suddenly, the entire Wei Empire thundered with cheers!
All citizens of Wei felt as if a weighty stone that had been pressing on their hearts was lifted, their spines seemingly straightened all at once.
And the most direct and noticeable effect of this great victory...
Was that the price of grain in Wei fell overnight to the low prices of the previous year’s May and June, seven or eight coins a dou for millet and around ten for barley.
In the public, the praises of Emperor Xiping as "the reviver of the dynasty" grew louder...
It seemed as if a golden age had dawned once more!